1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a plastic wheel made of a cut fiber reinforced plastic, said wheel being compression molded and said cut fiber being predominantly axially oriented to achieve uniform strength and distribution of the cut fibers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In German Pat. No. 2,101,247 it is disclosed that a wheel rim can be fabricated from polyamide resin reinforced with glass fibers. It is alleged in this patent that the synthetic resin rims are equal in performance to those rims made of metal. It is also disclosed that the wall portions may be of varied thickness relating to particular stresses as may be encountered. The rim claimed is stated to be injection molded.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,737 is directed to a reinforced plastic resin wheel, which wheel is stated to overcome the problems reflected in the region of attachment of said wheel to conventional braking forces in that these regions of attachments of known plastic wheels do not withstand the forces transmitted by the metal parts such as bolts and nuts. The inventive feature claimed to represent an advance in the art by the Patentee is that of reinforcing the plastic holes with rigid plate (metal means) imbedded in the thickness of the disc and flush with or protruding from the outer face of the disc. This metal reinforcement is stated to effectively resolve the problem of excessive wear as would be achieved if the edges of the resin hole per se came into contact with said bolt.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,357, together with the prior art references cited therein, relating to glass fiber forming and coating processes, are incorporated by reference at this point. The resin coated cut glass fibers produced in accordance with this patent, and the references identified therein in columns 1 and 2, represent a typical process and product that can be utilized for the cut fiber glass reinforcing material utilized in applicant's plastic wheel as herein described and claimed. Modern Plastics Encyclopedia 1971-1972, Pages 348 and 350, disclose a typical compression molding apparatus and procedure that can be utilized to compression mold the cut fiber glass reinforced plastic wheel of the present invention.